Saturday, August 5, 2017

The Tamil Nadu Isai Vellalar Ilaignar Nala Sangam has served legal notices to Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan and Star Vijay for ‘defaming’ the community by allegedly handling the musical instrument Nadaswaram with disrespect on the reality show Bigg Boss Tamil.

The show, hosted by the actor and aired on Vijay TV, has been in the eye of storm right from its first day.

In the legal notice served, the group has alleged that the manner in which actor Shakti, one of the contestants on the show, handled the instrument was not just an insult, but also defamation. Apart from Kamal and the channel, Shakti and Endemol Pvt Ltd have been sent notices.

“The 3rd of you (Shakti) was acting as a Nadasvaram vidwan, holding the instrument, dancing with it and also throwing it from one hand to another in a very cavalier manner. Afterwards, the Nadaswaram was kept on the dining table and the participants were sitting and having their food. All these things have insulted and damaged the mindset of the community as the Nadaswaram is more than a musical instrument to them,” the notice read.

The group also held the channel and Kamal responsible as it claimed that the show was “scripted”.

“…observing the program closely reveals the secret that the entire program is regulated by the script provided by 1st (Vijay TV), 2nd (Kamal Haasan), 4th (Endemol India) of you with specific intention of inducing viewership by touching emotional, sensitive characters of individuals and communities without bothering about the defamatory nature of such script...,” it stated.

The group has also asked for an unconditional apology from the parties within 7 days from the date of receipt of the notice. They have also demanded an apology from Kamal Haasan on the show, failing which legal action will be taken.

The veteran actor and the channel were recently sued by Puthiya Tamizhagam founder-president Dr K Krishnaswamy over Choreographer Gayathri Raghuram’s comment on the show. She had used the word ‘cheri’ (slum) while talking about a fellow housemate’s behaviour on the show.